Eliza Bland Smith Erskine Norton

Eliza Bland Smith Erskine Norton (1795 – 20 September 1855) was a British poet, playwright, and author.

Eliza Bland Smith Erskine Norton
Born1795 Edit this on Wikidata
Whitehaven Edit this on Wikidata
Died20 September 1855 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 59–60)
Spouse(s)Esmé Stuart Erskine, James Norton Edit this on Wikidata

Life

Eliza Bland Smith was born in 1795 in Whitehaven, England, the daughter of a Lieutenant Colonel Smith. In 1809, she married Lt. Col. Esmé Stewart Erskine, son of Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine. He lost an arm at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and died in 1817.[1] In Mumbai on 3 November 1819, she married James Norton, then in the naval service of the East India Company.[2] He later joined the Imperial Brazilian Navy and during the Cisplatine War, he lost an arm in battle in 1828.[3] He died in 1835.[1]

Eliza Bland Smith Erskine Norton died on 20 September 1855 in Baden-Baden at the home of her son-in-law, diplomat Frederic Douglas-Hamilton.[4]

Writing

She published two books of poetry, Isabel (1814) and Alcon Malanzore (1815). The latter was a long narrative poem about the doomed interracial love between a Christian woman, Rosaline, and the titular Moorish commander.[5] She also published a play, The Martyr (1848), and a collection of stories, The Gossip (1852). She contributed to periodicals including The Metropolitan and Bentley's Miscellaney.[6]

Her works are sometimes confused with those of the more famous author Caroline Norton; the latter quipped that "Mrs. Erskine Norton has ingeniously taken to playing at being me to all the publishers."[7] The two women engaged in a debate about this confusion and the appropriate use of British naming conventions in letters to The Times.[8]

Children

Eliza and Esmé Stewart Erskine had three children:

  • Thomas Erskine (born 29 March 1810)[9]
  • Esmé Stuart Erskine (8 Sep 1811-1833)[9]
  • Henry Erskine (born 11 August 1814)[9]

Eliza and James Norton had six children:

  • Marina Norton (1843-1871), who married diplomat Frederic Douglas-Hamilton (1815-1887) [10]
  • Indiana Isabel Norton (died in childhood)[11]
  • Fletcher Carioca Norton[11]
  • Fredrick de la Plata Norton[11]
  • William Slayter Norton[11]
  • Maria Brasilia Norton, who married Dr. John Brewor.[11]

Bibliography
  • Isabel, a Tale, in Two Cantos; and Other Poems (1814)[12]
  • Alcon Malanzore: A Moorish Tale (1815)[5]
  • The Martyr: A Tragedy (1848)[13]
  • The Gossip: A Collection of Tales.  3 vol.  London: Saunders and Otley, 1852.[1]

References
  1. "Author: Eliza Bland Norton". At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  2. "Marriages". Edinburgh Magazine. 7: 342. June 1820.
  3. Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, Barão do (2012). Obras do Barão do Rio Branco (in Portuguese). Brasília. ISBN 978-85-7631-352-6. OCLC 842885255. Norton dirigiu-se em um escaler para bordo deste último navio, e aí uma bala partiu-lhe o braço direito, que no mesmo dia teve de ser amputado.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "Deaths". Gentleman's Magazine. November 1855. p. 556.
  5. Saglia, Diego (28 December 2021). Poetic Castles in Spain: British Romanticism and Figurations of Iberia. BRILL. p. 163. ISBN 978-90-04-48673-7.
  6. Vrooman, H. W.; Landis, Martha; Dickens, Charles (1850–1859). "Household words": 387. ISSN 0950-9801. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Perkins, Jane Gray (1909). The Life of the Honourable Mrs. Norton. H. Holt. p. 176.
  8. The New quarterly review, and digest of current literature. 1853.
  9. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
  10. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999.
  11. Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, Barão do (2012). Obras do Barão do Rio Branco. Vol. VII. Brasília. ISBN 978-85-7631-352-6. OCLC 842885255.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Johnson, C. R. (1992). Provincial poetry 1789-1839 : British verse printed in the provinces : the Romantic background. Internet Archive. Otley : Printed by Smith Settle for the Jed Press, London. ISBN 978-0-9520501-0-0.
  13. Davis, Gwenn (1992). Drama by women to 1900 : a bibliography of American and British writers. Internet Archive. Toronto : University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-2797-9.


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